Traditions
by DJNS
Summary: Aang and Katara discuss the traditions of their respective cultures and decide to make new ones of their own.


"So…what do you think?"

Katara speared Aang with a dour glare as he gingerly closed the door of his guest bedroom behind them, as if he sensed a blowup from her was imminent. He wasn't wrong. She stalked over to the ornate chaise lounge that was situated directly in front of the dais of Aang's large, canopied bed and plopped down onto the gold and green embroidered cushions to regard Aang with a mutinous expression and stubbornly crossed arms.

"Do you _really_ want to know what I think, Aang?" she asked tightly, "Because you might be sorry you asked."

Even without that dire warning, based on Katara's aggravated tone and body language, Aang was fairly certain the answer to that question was an unequivocal "no." He could only imagine the things she wanted to say in those moments and none of it was good. In fact, he had been sensitive to her deteriorating mood almost from the moment it had begun and that awareness had only served to heighten the anxiety and frustration that had been building in him for the last hour.

Their meeting with Kuei and Zuko hadn't gone quite the way either of them had expected. What had begun as an open discussion, punctuated by giddy excitement and anticipation had ended resentment, irritation and a fair amount of yelling, mostly between Zuko and Katara. By the time it was done, Katara was stomping from the Earth King's private study in an indignant, self-righteous huff, leaving Aang with little choice but to follow her sheepishly. When she had marched straight to his guest chamber, evidently unconcerned with what Kuei's servants might infer by their being closeted alone in his room in the middle of the day, Aang had known for sure that whatever was coming was going to be bad.

Still, he tried to diffuse her anger as much as he could. "I know it's not what you were expecting-,"

"—Was it what _you_ were expecting, Aang?" she bit out before he could finish.

"Well, not exactly, but-,"

"—I don't even know why I'm surprised!" she railed furiously, "This is exactly like Zuko! He's so selfish I could scream! Everything he does has to somehow benefit _him_ in the long run! He never thinks of anyone but himself!"

"Katara, that's not fair. You heard him in there. He wants to do this for his people, for _all of us_. That's not selfish."

She glowered at him, stabbing her finger in disappointed aggravation. "Don't do that!" she warned in a low tone, "You make too many excuses for him, Aang, and I don't want to hear them! Not this time! Not when he's going to ruin what is supposed to be the most important day of my life!"

It wasn't exactly the reaction a potential groom would welcome from his prospective bride after they just spent hours discussing the details for their impending nuptials but Aang didn't completely blame her for being infuriated and disappointed. After everything that had transpired during the meeting, Aang was sure that she must feel like their special day was being highjacked and made into something that she had never wanted or intended. Truthfully, he felt that way himself a little bit himself. Despite the fact that it was supposed to be _their_ wedding, he and Katara were being afforded surprisingly little input with regards to the actual ceremony.

Aang was both annoyed by his friends' presumptuousness but also strangely understanding of both rulers' positions and what they were trying to accomplish. There was a part of him that even _agreed_ with their methods. Besides that, he and Katara were the ones who had trusted them with finalizing the details in the first place.

Both Zuko and Kuei had generously offered to host and fund the entire event. They had assured him and Katara that no expense would be spared on their behalf and, at the time, they had been grateful for their friends' unreserved willingness to plan their wedding, something that both Aang and Katara knew excruciatingly little about. Of course, they hadn't known at the time what a complicated, convoluted affair that it would eventually become.

What Aang and Katara had anticipated would be a small, intimate ceremony had slowly evolved into something infinitely more grandiose than either of them could have imagined. Suddenly, they weren't merely discussing the details of their wedding any longer but a political event that could potentially serve to symbolize a peaceful alliance between the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation. No longer was it the "small, intimate ceremony," that he and Katara had initially envisioned but an extravagant, lush occasion that was being touted as a governmental gala.

This was no simple observance or exchange of vows, both Zuko and Kuei had argued fervently. After all, this was _the Avatar's_ wedding, the sacred union of a demigod, the world's protector and _his_ protectress, in a lifetime, marital bond. Such an event was expected to create a global stir and could certainly not be handled without some degree of fanfare. No quiet, understated ceremony would do for such a highly anticipated and politically charged occasion even though "quiet and understated" was exactly what Aang and Katara would have preferred. But it seemed the matter was out of their hands, much the way finding the time and opportunity to marry in the first place had been put off again and again but outside forces that were beyond their control.

And though Aang tried to focus on the positive, that in less than a year's time he would finally, officially make Katara his wife, he couldn't help but feel a measure of sadness over her anger and disappointment over how everything was unfolding. None of this was what _she_ wanted at all. He could ultimately make his peace with it all because his life had been punctuated by compromise and sacrifice almost since the day he learned his identity as Avatar but he couldn't and didn't expect the same sort of passive acceptance from Katara.

Aang recognized that this was yet another concession that she would have to make due to who he was. Because she wanted him, _loved_ him, Katara was continually forced to make concessions in her personal life, her aspirations and desires to be what he needed when he needed it and Aang suspected that this was only the beginning. Aang truly hated that for her. Were it up to him, he would have gladly married her in the middle of Kuei's garish, guest suite right then and there but it had become abundantly clear to Aang that it wasn't up to him anymore. Not at all. And, perhaps, that realization was the hardest of all…the recognition that, even with all the power in the universe at his fingertips, he couldn't give Katara the thing she truly wanted even after all she had given him.

Subdued by the realization and a little saddened, Aang sat down beside Katara with a heavy sigh and covered her hand with his own. "What do you want to do?" he asked her thickly.

Katara shrugged. "What can we do?" she countered in a mumble, "If it's for the good of the world then how am I supposed to say 'no,' right?"

"I don't want you to feel obligated to go along with it just because of that," he argued.

"It's not about obligation, Aang," she replied, twisting around to face him fully, "I want to marry you. That's all I've wanted for years now but… I've been imagining this day for so long and this isn't what I had in mind."

"Maybe we should be grateful," he considered softly, "I mean…it's not like we've had a whole lot of time to sit down and plan a wedding and they _are_ paying for it…"

Katara grunted at his reasoning. "Nobody asked them to do that," she muttered, "We wanted their help not for them to take over completely and turn it into some kind of political chess move!"

"True," Aang acknowledged, "But it's still a nice gesture that they want to go all out for us, don't you think?"

"No, it's selfish. They're trying to make our wedding into something that benefits them and I don't like it!"

"I think that's an oversimplification, Katara," Aang replied mildly, "You know how tentative things are between the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation. Tensions are still very high and the United Republic is still in its infancy. They're trying to promote unity, to bring their nations together in a common goal. Isn't that what we _all_ want? They do have good intentions."

"That doesn't mean they get to use _our_ wedding to do it, Aang!" she snapped irritably, "I can't believe you're actually okay with this!"

Rather than addressing that charge directly, Aang countered her accusation with an argument of his own. "When I first told you that Zuko was interested in hosting our wedding, you were on board with it," he reminded her, "You were excited and happy. So what changed?"

"That was before I found out he had ulterior motives! You heard him in there! He talked more about 'bringing the nations together' and the 'symbolic joining of the nations' than he did about us actually _getting married_ Which is, you know, _the entire point_!"

"Does it matter if the end result is still the same?"

Katara gaped at him as if he'd just magically sprouted a horn from the middle of his forehead. "Yes!" she cried in exasperation, "Of course, it matters! It's _our wedding day_, Aang!"

In contrast to Katara's impassioned response, however, Aang merely shrugged as if wholly unbothered by it all. His next words confirmed her suspicions. "But it's just a ceremony, Katara. What is one day in comparison to us spending a lifetime together? What's important to me is that, when it's all over, you're my wife and I'm your husband. That's what really matters anyway."

"Are you serious? H-How can our wedding ceremony not be a big deal to you?" Katara sputtered, "We've been anticipating this for years, waiting for years, _planning_ for years…and this is what it comes down to? What about sentiment and tradition, Aang?"

"What tradition? If you're asking me about air nomad tradition…my people didn't have formal wedding ceremonies. Why do you think I suggested that we ask Zuko for his help in the first place? I'm out of my element with this stuff."

Katara squinted at him in surprise. "_That's_ the reason you wanted to ask him…because your people didn't have weddings? Really?" He nodded slowly. "How did I never know this?" She liked to pride herself on being quite knowledgeable regarding the air nomad culture and traditions but there were times when Aang still managed to shock her.

Aang lifted his shoulders in a noncommittal shrug. "You never asked."

She pinned him with narrowed eyes. "Forgive me for thinking that might be something you'd want to _volunteer_, Aang."

He couldn't quite suppress his laughter over her disgruntled tone. "Sorry. I didn't think it was a big deal."

"How could it not be a big deal?" Katara cried, "Your people didn't believe in marriage! That's kind of a big deal!"

"I didn't say they didn't believe in marriage," he corrected her mildly, "I said they weren't into formal marriage ceremonies."

"What's the difference?"

"Traditional marriage didn't really exist among my people at all," he explained, "We were a community, a global family that was united by something stronger than bloodlines but the monks taught us to avoid forming deep emotional attachments because those were viewed as an impediment expressing love and to receiving it. They said that if we focused on a select few in our affections then we would inevitably close ourselves off to loving others. There were some who _did_ marry but it wasn't encouraged. For the most part, romantic unions were based on love, affection and desire but they were free of…official commitment."

"What does that mean?"

"It _means_ that my people weren't always monogamous, Katara. There were relationships that could last for a lifetime and some that were fleeting. And those bonds could exist between two people or more than that. You loved who you loved, man or woman…sometimes both at the same time, sometimes _several _at the same time."

"Are you…are you telling me that the monks were into threesomes, Aang?" Katara demanded, clearly aghast.

Aang choked back a laugh at her stricken expression. "No! It wasn't like that at all. It was about freedom…the freedom to love who we wanted and how we chose without any constraints. I'm saying that the romantic relationships among my people weren't always traditional or defined, Katara. That's all. So, when you ask why having a ceremony isn't a big deal to me, that's why it's not a big deal. There was never any real emphasis put on that sort of thing in my culture."

"But you want to marry me," Katara concluded in a tremulous whisper, "Is that because you felt pressured somehow? Are you only going through with this because _I_ expect it, Aang?"

"Not at all. Katara, I've wanted to marry you every day of my life since I was thirteen years old. The only thing that I have ever been absolutely sure of is my love for you."

"But what kind of marriage are you expecting, Aang?" she wondered tentatively, her expression despondent as she averted her eyes, "Do you want that same kind of 'free' love to exist between us…because I don't know if I like the idea of sharing you with someone else like that."

Wanting to quickly reassure her before her mind took her to places he had never intended, Aang reached over to cup her cheek, gently coaxing her uncertain blue eyes back to his resolute gray ones. "You are the _only_ one I want, Katara," he whispered, "I am hopelessly, ridiculously, madly in love with you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. _Just you_." He punctuated that vow with a tender kiss, eliciting Katara's trembling sigh of relief.

"I want to be with 'just you' too," she whispered.

"That's good to know," Aang laughed, "Because, for the record, I wouldn't be into sharing _you_ like that either. That was the philosophy of my people but it's not mine."

Lulled by his reassurance and the soft, sweet kisses they exchanged afterwards, Katara found herself relaxed and smiling for the first time in three hours. "Okay, I guess that means _your _traditions are out as far as our wedding is concerned," she declared gratefully, "So what are our other options?"

"Well, what about _your_ traditions?" Aang wondered, "How do the people of the Southern Watertribe get married?"

Katara reared back slightly and wrinkled her nose in thought before finally, reluctantly shaking her head. "I don't know if our way of doing things would work very well either, Aang," she whispered after some consideration.

"Why not?"

"Well, for one thing, my people are patriarchal. Marriage is determined by the tribal chief. He is the one who approves the union and until he gives his blessing it's not official."

"I don't see the problem with that. I already got your father's permission to marry you years ago so we've got it covered."

"But that's only _part_ of it, Aang," Katara went on to explain, "Among my people, a young man who is interested in taking a wife must first indenture himself to his intended bride's father for a period of six months-,"

"—I can do that-,"

"—and he must act in the capacity of a son-,"

"—Done!"

"—Which means that he must become a full member of the household," Katara continued on doggedly, "Which requires serving as a protector to the bride's family, the entire village and taking responsibility for food provision by joining the _hunting party_ of his future father-in-law. You know, _the killing of animals for their meat and hides_…"

"Oh…" Aang murmured in obvious distaste.

"Yes…'oh.' Only after the groom has served in that capacity can there be an actual ceremony. And even then, he must be deemed worthy as a hunter and warrior by the chief before he is granted permission to take his future bride into his tent and consummate their union," Katara explained, "The whole thing strikes me as incredibly sexist so, I'm not any more wild about that idea than you are. My people's traditions definitely aren't going to work for us either."

"Right," Aang sighed somewhat despondently, "I guess that puts us right back at square one then. Zuko and Kuei's fancy wedding extravaganza it is!"

His lack of enthusiasm over that prospect was palpable and mirrored Katara's own internal misgivings. That was ultimately what prompted her to whisper, "What if we made our own traditions, Aang?"

"What are you talking about?"

"In a way, you and I are starting something new," she reasoned, "Neither of us fit into the molds our people planned for us. I'm not property to be given away and you're not someone who can be detached in his affections. We are something else entirely, not completely Air Nation but not totally Watertribe either. What we have between us is very unique. The vows we make to each other should be unique as well, don't you think?"

"Yes. I do."

"Then maybe we should stop thinking about what's expected of us and what's traditional and figure out what _we_ want instead."

"But what about Zuko and Kuei? We can't just ditch them now, can we? They've already put so many plans into this wedding that I think it might be too late to turn back now."

"So let them have it," Katara whispered, "We'll go through with their ridiculous ceremony for the greater good but that doesn't mean that we can't still have something that's just for the two of us."

"What are you suggesting?"

"That we make our own ceremony," she said, "Something that is completely free of everyone else's traditions."

He swept up her hands in his own, his heart fluttering with anticipation. "I like that idea. We could make the ceremony whatever we want it to be."

"Exactly."

Growing more and more excited with the prospect, Aang asked, "When would you want to do this, Katara?"

"As soon as possible. The sooner, the better. All we need is you and me. We've waited long enough already, don't you think?"

The question was a rhetorical one but Aang wouldn't have argued against her logic even if it hadn't been. It seemed to him that he had been waiting an eternity to make Katara his wife. He had been firm in that determination since the moment he turned fourteen, when he finally mustered up the courage to ask Hakoda for his permission to marry his daughter. The seasoned Watertribe chief had accepted his proposal without reserve but with one, small stipulation…he had wanted Aang to wait until he turned sixteen, an acceptable age of marriage among tribal members, before making his union with Katara official.

Aang had graciously consented, thinking at the time that two years would likely fly by for them both. And it certainly had too. Unfortunately, the constant political upheaval that followed the end of the 100 years' war had not afforded them with the time to _plan_ an actual ceremony, much less go through with it when the time came. As a result, Aang's sixteenth birthday had come and gone without he and Katara ever fulfilling their goal to marry. By now, he had already passed his eighteenth birthday and their nuptial date was still another ten months into the future.

That was too far away in Aang's opinion. Katara was right. They had waited long enough.

"The Eastern Air Temple isn't far from here," Aang reasoned softly after some thought, "We'll pass it on our way to meet up with Sokka and Toph at the Beifong house. We could stop there once we've finished up here in Ba Sing Se. It would be quiet, private…the perfect place for a symbolic commitment ceremony. What do you think?"

Katara nuzzled against him, her expression filled with adoration. "I think we should do it."

"Yeah?"

She framed his face in her hands and leaned in closer to kiss him softly. "Yeah…"

**~End~**


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